5 Mass. hospitals drop late-night ER visit fees Sep 25, 2009
If insurers reject the fees, the patient cannot be charged under a state law that forbids what is called balance billing. The patients without insurance who pay their own bills might have been charged what would represent less than 5 percent of a total charge for emergency care, Wolfe said. (Boston Globe)
Hidden hospital costsdevastate families Aug 21, 2009
In a practice known as balance billing, insurers pay a portion of the out-of-network charges, and the balance owed to hospitals and doctors is dumped on patients ... Many have been critical of a January California Supreme Court decision that banned balance billing, meaning that physicians cannot charge patients on top of what the physicians have received from an insurance company. (MSNBC -- Health)
Can Medicare be Funded and Fixed? May 15, 2009
Change balance billing guidelines, utilizing an income sliding scale. Use computerized insurance cards to identify status. (Suite101.com)
Managing the maze: Agencies can help pare medical debt Feb 22, 2009
Patients with insurance also should be wary of balance billing. That's the difference between the amount billed by a provider and the amount paid by the insurer after patients pay copays, coinsurance or deductibles. (North County Times)
